Chapter 55 George
GEORGE
We’re making good time so far. Owen and I barely took two seconds to clean up a little more, get our clothes back on, and hit the road.
But no matter how I map it, and even if we only stop for gas and whatever junk food we can grab, there is no route that gets us there before the wedding. Still, we have to try.
“I am so sorry,” Owen says for about the hundredth time.
“There is no way you could have known those rings were in the pocket. Even Zoe didn’t realize it until an hour ago.”
His fingers tense on the steering wheel. He runs a hand through his hair. It ends up sticking up in all directions. It is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.
“And she hasn’t told Luca and Cory yet?”
I glance down at my phone as if some new information might have come in in the last thirty seconds. “I think she’s hoping we’ll find a way to bend the space-time continuum, and she won’t have to.”
Owen chews his lip. “Is that a good idea though? I mean, obviously I’ve never met the guy, but I get the feeling Luca might be a little…uptight about this.” He glances over, checking my response. “Sorry, I know this is probably really weird for you.”
“No, it’s… actually it’s fine. I mean, I still care about him. I do want him to be happy. And besides, I have other things on my mind,” I say meaningfully.
He looks over again, this time with a huge, if slightly bashful, smile. He reaches across to lace his fingers with mine. I look down at our hands together. It seems just right. I clear my throat. “So.”
He shoots me another look. “So?”
“Not to get all neurotic on you”— the smile that plays across his face tells me that ship has long sailed—”But what does this mean?” I raise our joined hands together for emphasis.
He sighs, changes lanes to go around a tractor-trailer. “I don’t know.”
“You live really far from me,” I point out. Because I’m a genius that way.
“You live really far from me.”
I stare out the window as Vermont’s endless forest glides by. “Is this crazy? What we’re doing? Not that we’re actually doing anything yet—I mean obviously we’ve done something, but… I think maybe I’ll stop trying to use words now.”
“I don’t know,” Owen sighs. So that’s it. It was nice while it lasted. A couple weeks of being pen pals and one brief glorified interlude to remember him by. He clears his throat. “I do know I want to keep seeing you.”
Warmth spreads all through me, and I don’t know if it’s affection or embarrassment, and I don’t give a flying fuck either. “Me too,” I tell him.
“Okay,” He nods, like it’s set, then. “Okay, then that’s what we’ll do. I don’t have anywhere in particular that I have to be for the next few days. I could maybe hang out in the city if that’s something you would want…”
“I mean… we’ll have to endure Zoe being insufferable about this. You do know that, right?”
“Eh, maybe not. If we screw up this wedding ring thing, she might not be speaking to either of us for a while.”
I laugh. “And I could come up and visit you, too. I need to start working on the new book, but I’ve gotten pretty used to writing at the cabin… I mean, if that’s something you would want.”
“Absolutely. I’m building the fires, right?”
“Oh, without question.”
He grins. “Allie will be glad to hear it.”
“Allie will be insufferable. And Ruth. And Carol.”
He squints at me. “How well did you get to know the fine people of Moonlake Village?”
“I think I might be their secret special project.”
He chuckles. Shoots me another glance. “So we’re doing this?”
“We’re doing this.” He throws on his signal, pulling off into a rest area at the last possible second before we pass it.
He pulls up along the edge of the pavement. The place is deserted except for a lone woman walking a large dog on the other side of the lot. “Do you need something?” I ask, “We should really only stop for essentials.”
“I know.” He unbuckles his seatbelt and leans over, cupping my jaw. He kisses me, slow and deep, and sweet. Then he buckles back in, puts the car in drive.
“You’re right. That was essential.” I bite back a smile. “Now floor it.”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
We shoot off down the highway.